The popularity and availability of portable communication devices has undergone a significant increase as a result of technological gains that have provided more efficient, reliable and cost-effective mobile devices. As these devices have become more capable and cheaper to own, they have become an integral part of everyday life. Thus, now, more than ever, more people rely on these devices to communicate with their families, friends, co-workers, and business associates while on the go. Further, many of these devices are capable of gathering and presenting many types of information and connecting with other types of electronic devices, thereby allowing users to integrate them into all aspects of their lives.
As these portable communication devices become more integrated into society and daily routines, they are relied on more, and more is expected of them. So much so, that portable communication devices are often used as the sole means of communication. For example, people have cellular telephone conversations while driving to work, and while walking on the beach. Further, one can check his voice mail using a personal computer while waiting in an airline terminal.
As a result of the increased numbers of these communication devices in use, and the safety risks inherent in the use of these devices during certain activities, there has been a trend to enhance services available through these devices. This trend has been to incorporate automated call processing techniques into communication systems and system services. Many typical message paging and cellular telephone systems, for example, include interfaces that enable callers to leave numeric messages using a telephone keypad, which are automatically transmitted to the system subscriber. More advanced systems enable callers to interact with the system using a computer network and thereby type text messages into their computer for transmission to a mobile device like a text message pager or cellular telephone. In these typical systems the system subscriber can read and even store the received text messages. However, there is a desire to increase the utility and automation of these call and message processing systems.
In the drawings, the same reference numbers identify identical or substantially similar elements or acts. To easily identify the discussion of any particular element or act, the most significant digit or digits in a reference number refer to the Figure number in which that element is first introduced (e.g., element 104 is first introduced and discussed with respect to FIG. 1).
Any headings provided herein are for convenience only and do not necessarily affect the scope or meaning of the claimed invention.